Son of River Dane
by 25th Doctor
Summary: Loghain has two children, one is queen of Ferelden, the other is a soldier with a budding carrier. His son Nolan must fight alongside the Grey wardens to protect his home from darkspawn, foreign powers, and even plots of betrayal from within Ferelden's borders. Rated T for future chapters. My first story.
1. Chapter 1

Dragon Age, A retold story.

Disclaimer, I own nothing except for the characters I created, everything else is the exclusive property of Bioware.

Nolan Mac Tir sat below a large canopy that protected his map table from the rain that had been falling for the past day and showed no sign of stopping. He was leading a camp of soldiers about three miles south of the main camp at Ostagar. Nolan was a tall and well-built man who had recently passed his twenty fifth naming day only a month before.

He was queen Anora's younger brother by close to five winters. Their mother had died not long after he was born due to health complications after his birth, and a lack of a healer resulted on tragedy. His father had raised him and Anora himself with little help beside what he knew he couldn't provide. Five years ago his sister had married king Cailan and became queen of Ferelden. The marriage had yet to produce any heirs.

Nolan worried at the rumors being spread that the queen was barren as a punishment for putting a commoner on the throne.

"Captain Mac tir are you alright?" Nolan was quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked to find the speaker. The one he found was one of his lieutenants, Marian Hawke. Hawke was tall by comparison to most Ferelden woman but still shorter then Nolan. She had black hair that was slightly longer in the front than back. Possibly the most defining parts of her looks were her emerald green eyes and the red mark that spread across her face that she had painted on herself to add a look of intimidation. This look worked well, as when combined with her fighting skill, the men often gave only the greatest respect.

"Hawke do you have anything to report?" Nolan asked, turning to face her. "One of the pickets said they saw movement to the south. It's more than likely darkspawn."

"Are they coming this way?"

"According to our scouts, there is a good chance they are."

Nolan turned back to the map table and began to think. "Send word to the men to prepare for a possible engagement with the darkspawn. Tell the officers to report here as soon as possible!"

"Yes Ser" Marian said with a salute. She then went to carry out her orders. Nolan continued to stare at the map of the wilds he had so far compiled. He then began to trace the possible routes the darkspawn could use to attack the camp. The camp was on a hill where the only smooth approach was to the north, leading to Ostagar. 'One of the main reasons I chose this spot was the fact that any attack from the south would be nothing short of suicide.' He picked up a quill and began to write a message on a blank piece of paper:

"Have engaged darkspawn three miles south of Ostagar. Recommend preparation for further attacks.

Captain Nolan Mac tir, commander of the camp Watchful Gaze." Nolan read this to himself twice, than wrote a copy of it, before calling over a messenger. "If we are attacked by the darkspawn, you are to take this to Ostagar as quickly as you can. Take this copy of the message and give the same directions to another courier understood?"

"Yes Ser!"

"Good!" Nolan stepped out of the tents protection and felt the rain land softly on his face which, despite the cold air, felt good in a way he was never able to describe. He then returned to the table and began to wait for the other officers to arrive. After about five minutes they had all arrived.

The oldest one of all of them was Donnellson, a tried and true veteran of the Ferelden revolution against Orlais. Donnellson had served with Nolan's father, but had declined an offer to take command of the camp, as he felt he served more successfully as a unit commander under someone else. Next to Donnellson, though roughly a foot shorter, Marian and her younger brother Carver, who had both proven to be effective commanders, but this would be Carver's first real battle as a unit commander, and Nolan could see the nervous excitement on his face.

And lastly was Trenton, who proved to be one of the greatest non-Dalish archers that Nolan or his father ever met. Nolan had placed him in charge of training the archers and he also commanded the bulk of them. Nolan was proud to have him and his soldiers, since much of the coming battle would likely be at range. Nolan began to address his officers.

"I'm glad you all came so quickly. Have you all heard the news of the approaching darkspawn?" They all responded with a silent nod, "then you know what must be done. Trenton, you will take your archers and spread out along the front line, with fifty men in reserve…" Trenton nodded "… Marian, you will be at the extreme left, and connect with Trenton and form into a hook along the crest of the hill." Marian looked at where Nolan was pointing with his fingers and nodded. Nolan then traced a similar hook shaped line on the opposite flank. "Carver, you will be in charge of defending the extreme right of the flank and form a mirror image of the left, I expect more darkspawn on your front so make sure you're ready." Carver nodded and the look of nervous excitement seemed to increase. "Donnellson, you will take the remaining men and make sure the camp is prepared for a retreat to Ostagar, as this may be the head of the hoard we are facing, we will need the wounded and the supplies ready to move quickly. Any men not dedicated to preparation for retreat will be in the reserve lines to give support to any of the front lines that require aid! That's three hundred men on the frontline from flank to flank, one hundred men in reserve, and one hundred for preparing the camp. Any questions?" No one said a thing. "Then move out! And may the Maker watch over us all."

The officers all nodded and went to carry out their orders. Nolan looked to the sky and saw that the rain was slowing down. 'Perhaps the Maker has not forsaken us after all' Nolan thought before going out to prepare for the battle himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Son of River Dane chapter 2

Disclaimer: Dragon age is the property of Bioware. The only thing I do own are my OCs. Please read and review. Note: this will be an all origins true story for the Grey warden recruits.

Nolan walked along the line to see that it was secure. The rain still pitter-pattered from the sky, but not as hard as this morning. The men were deployed exactly where he had ordered them to be, and now were simply waiting for the darkspawn to show themselves. The men were mostly idly chatting; Nolan heard more than once that they were all getting ready for only a small raiding party. Nolan however had a bad feeling that seemed to only get worse the further to the right of the line he walked. He wrote it off as pre-battle nerves, and managed to look carefully from the line of soldiers in front of him to the tree line below the hill, and he felt he saw something. The bad feeling began to return and only grew stronger the longer he stood there watching a small break in the tree line where something just moved… "Captain Mac tir? Are you alright ser?" Nolan was snapped out of his reverie and turned to see Carver standing beside him. "I'm fine Carver," Nolan said returning his gaze to the tree line "but something is out there!"

"What could-" Carver's sentence was interrupted by an arrow that nearly hit both of him and Nolan. This was followed by a chorus of loud screeches that would make the bravest man's blood run cold. The darkspawn charged out of the forest in massive numbers. "Carver! See to your men now!" Carver nodded quickly and rushed to his men. Nolan walked quickly to the center of the front line and saw Trenton organizing the archers for the first volley of arrows. Trenton raised his right hand and quickly shouted "Loose arrows!" A swarm of arrows flew into the oncoming tide of darkspawn. The darkspawn fell in droves, but the fallen were simply trampled underfoot by the living.

Trenton launched volley after volley, but the darkspawn continued to stream out the wilds in what seemed infinite numbers. Nolan watched as the darkspawn tried to climb the hill, but the recent rain had reduced the hill to a slick mess, this combined with the naturally steep slope caused the darkspawn to have a hard time ascending the slope. Nolan sent a silent thanks to the Maker for this position. But he was beginning to worry, as he knew Trenton couldn't keep the darkspawn back indefinitely, and arrows would quickly become a problem if the men continued to fire them at this rate. He walked back to the camp and found Donnellson's men were almost done taking down the camp. He found Donnellson himself helping to load the wounded onto a wagon. "Donnellson!" he turned at the sound of his name being called and quickly saluted.

"We are almost done here captain! Do you have any further orders?"

"I do. The darkspawn will overrun the defense line soon! Leave anything that's not essential and start moving the wagons out. Once the wagons are well on their way, position your men on either side of the road, Archers on the road behind cover, swordsmen protecting them and the flank as you see fit, hold position until you are sent for or you see the rest of the men retreating, I'll do what I can to give time to set up, are we clear?"

"Yes ser."

"Then start moving the wagons that are full, they need time to get Ostagar!" Nolan turned once again back to the front line and went to Marian's men on the left flank of the line. When he arrived he saw no sign of battle except to the far right, close to the center. Marian could be seen asking messengers if there were any changes in orders, which so far was a no. "Hawke!" Marian quickly approached him and saluted, waiting for orders. "Hawke, have you any activity to report?"

"No ser, nothing on this end. Carver reports scattered movement on his side but nothing he can't handle."

"Then I want you to move your men to support Trenton in the center, the darkspawn will reach his line soon, and he will need the reinforcements!"

"Right away ser!" Marian immediately began carrying out her orders, and her men began move to the right, preparing to reinforce the center line. Nolan followed and quickly saw that his decision had been a good one as the darkspawn ranks were close to overcoming the hill that stood between them and the Fereldens. A large blast of fire tore into Trenton's line as Hurlock emissary had found an ideal position to begin firing spells at the hill's defenders. Several arrows were launched and saw the emissary fall with six injuries, two to the head. But the damage was done and the hoard was upon them.

The soldiers drew swords and began to fight in hand-to-hand, but Nolan knew they wouldn't last long. He drew his own blade and shield and quickly prepared for a charging Genlock. The small darkspawn raised the mace it was carrying, bet Nolan sidestepped it. He then swung his sword into the genlock's neck, removing its head from its shoulders. Nolan didn't have time to celebrate however, as he was now challenged by a Hurlock. It swung its sword, attempting to cut his head in half. Nolan blocked the attack with his shield, and followed with a stab through the Hurlock's chest. Nolan twisted the blade inside of the monster's body, then after removing it, cleaved of the Hurlock' head to insure that it truly died. Now Nolan had a moment to look around and saw that things were going badly.

The men he had held in reserve had taken the initiative and charged into the center to support their comrades in arms, but even that did little in the face of the darkspawn's overwhelming numbers. Nolan knew what needed to be done. He pulled out of the thick of the battle, (killing another Genlock on the way), and reached into his pouch. He found his horn and sounded it three times, signaling retreat. The men seemed to hear the call and quickly either finished off the foe they were fighting, or they outright just started running north. Nolan looked to the right and saw Carver's men pulling back as well. Nolan began to help organize he retreat, having archers with arrows remaining fire into the hoard to try and slow them down, to little avail. Soon the camp was empty. The darkspawn, sensing their victory, began to give chase. Nolan was near the rear of the retreating army, helping to get stragglers back on their feet after falling, or pointing them in the right direction.

About a mile down the road some darkspawn gave up the chase, deciding to go back and feast on the dead. A small group was still after them however, and if a man fell too far behind, they were quickly seized upon. A few moments later, a volley of arrows flew past the survivors and into the remaining darkspawn. Nolan looked ahead and could see Donnellson's men receiving the survivors and being greeted with cheers. Nolan was the last man to cross the defense line, as he had stopped to help one the wounded who had taken a darkspawn arrow to his leg. As some men relieved the young captain of his burden, the officers came to request orders. "The camp is lost. We fall back to Ostagar, the king and my father need to know that the hoard is coming soon!" The officers all agreed and gave the orders for the men to march to the rest of the way to Ostagar, where Nolan knew another great battle would soon occur. 'Maker, if you have not yet forsaken us all, please let these men reach safety.' Nolan thought in a silent prayer.


	3. Chapter 3

Son of River Dane

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: All parts of this story that are not my OC's belong to Bioware.

The gates of Ostagar opened to receive the retreating soldiers as they quickly entered. Nolan was the last to enter before the gates closed, and quickly began to look for his officers to assess the damage done to his forces. He found Marian and Carver first, then Donnellson and Trenton.

"Sort out the men by squad, find out who is missing." All of the officers could hear the tone in his voice that expressed his regret at the number of soldiers they had lost. The officers went to carry out their task. The men were sorted into their units, then their individual squads.

Nolan walked past the forming lines and observed where the damage was greatest. Trenton's men took the least time, as the darkspawn had hit their ranks first and hardest, and their numbers had suffered for it. Marian and Carver had suffered lighter casualties, but their ranks were not perfect, and there were squads that had fewer men than they should have possessed.

When Donnellson's men were finished assembling into line, Nolan gave the order for the commanders to all write him a report and send them to his tent. After seeing them all nod he said "Double rations for all the men, make sure the wounded get first priority at the infirmary." They all nodded silently yet again, and Nolan then began to walk toward the bridge, and his father's camp.

Meanwhile at Lake Calenhad…

Jowan awoke from a previously peaceful sleep, and quickly felt that something was wrong. He looked over to the bunk that was below him, but lost his balance and fell to the floor. Groaning in pain, Jowan sat up and looked at the bunk below his. Sleeping comfortably was his friend Elizar Surana. Jowan was able to stand up, and when he saw his elvish friend was starting to stir. He quickly leaned against a nearby bed post and ignored the pain in his behind. "So your finally awake?"

"Jowan?"

"They took you somewhere last night. It was for your Harrowing wasn't it?" Elizar smiled at that realization,

"That's right, I remember now."

Jowan felt his curiosity reach the breaking point.

"What was it like?"

"Irving and Greagoir sent me into the Fade to battle a rage demon."

Jowan shook a little at that, and it showed in his voice. "I suppose that makes sense. They want to see if you can resist the influence of a demon."

Elizar climb out of his sitting position and stood up. Being an elf, he was somewhat shorter than Jowan, but the way he carried himself made him seem like a giant compared to the timid and reserved Jowan. Elizar had bright red orange hair, and emerald green eyes. He and Jowan began to walk out of the dormitories. Simply in the way they walked one could easily see that Elizar was the leader, as he strutted confidently in the lead, Jowan walked meekly behind him. They walked a short distance to the next dormitory for the apprentices, where they planned to meet the other member of their small group. When they approached the door, they could hear pitched shouting from within. They quickly opened the door and saw what they were worried they would see. On one side of the argument was Solona Amell, a human female who was nineteen years old. She had shoulder length brown hair, fair skin, and was about as tall as Jowan. But her size did nothing to help her against the veritable giant she was arguing against.

Standing across from her was Sarah Hayes, who was unique in several ways. The most prevalent thing was that she was neither human nor elf. She was a kossith. She stood at a good seven and a half feet tall, purple skin, and snow white hair. Framing her hair was a pair of horns that grew from the sides of her forehead. And the look of pure anger in her almond brown eyes was a rather terrifying sight, as few could ever inspire her unfettered rage. Except Solona Amell that is.

Solona and Sarah seemed to disagree on just about everything ever since they had met. And one of them was her choice to keep her horns. Solona was a devout Andrastrian, and disliked Sarah's choice to keep one the primary symbols that was associated with heresy by the chantry. This argument seemed to be about something else however. And Elizar was not interested in hearing what Amell had to say to a particularly powerful insult that Sarah had learned from Elizar. "So girls," he shouted over their voices and both looked to him with different reactions. Sarah looked happy to see him, and Solona looked like she someone had just poured lemon juice on a cut. "What's the topic of argument today?" Elizar finished asking with his typical cocky smile. Solona was the first to answer. "I caught this Qunari bitch going through my notes on Orlesion history and scribbling out parts of it!" Elizar thought, 'wow, way to go Sarah, that's how you get Amell mad!' Elizar made a mental note to congratulate Sarah on this later. He stopped zoning out the conversation when he noticed that Sarah was about to start talking. "Why would I want to strain my eyes trying to read the miniscule scribbling that is your handwriting?"

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself quite immensely when I found you!" Solona said with enough venom in her voice to make giant spiders seem harmless by comparison.

Elizar decided now was the time to stop things, and quickly did so. "Well Sarah obviously has some explaining to do! Now let's go before the Templars think someone transformed into an abomination."

As he said that, two Templars walked into the room. One was Ser Cullen, and the one leading him was Ser Richard.

"Now what is going on here?" He asked. He got his answer when he saw the group. He put a hand to his head in exasperation. "Not again. Cullen, take Miss Amell somewhere to cool her head and hear her story!" Cullen quickly carried out his instructions, gently guiding her out of the dormitory. Richard looked to the three remaining mages. "Surana, the first enchanter wants to see you. Jowan, Hayes, I honestly don't care what you do next, but please refrain from creating such noise that that the Maker can hear it in the Fade!" Elizar nodded and said

"Of course good ser, none of us would want to disturb the Maker while he is enjoying the sweet company of his wife Andraste." Sarah stifled a laugh behind her hand while Jowan looked nervous. Richard actually looked like he was trying not to smile at that.

"Just get to the first enchanters study Surana." Richard then turned and walked out the door.

Surana looked at Sarah, who shook her head as a sign of 'I'll tell you later.' "Well, you two enjoy yourselves; I'm going to go see what our esteemed first enchanter needs with me." He then left the room and went to the stairs. Jowan still looked nervous, and grabbed Sarah's arm as she was leaving. "Sarah, there's something I need to talk with you about."

"What is it Jowan?"

"We can't talk here. Follow me!" So Jowan led her in the same direction as their friend had gone, but their destination was the chapel upstairs. 'I hope Lily is there, I'll need her help to explain this to Sarah and Elizar.'

A.N.

Please let me know what you think of this story in a review. I also apologize if anyone was waiting for an update, I've been away from the computer for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Dragon age is the exclusive property of Bioware. I own nothing except for my OC's.

Elizar was leaving the stock room and heading for the first enchanter's office. He passed by the chapel were an apprentice appeared to be praying, but he paid her little mind. He began to approach Irving's door when he heard the sound of another argument. 'It must be national argument day!' Elizar thought as he smiled to himself. He decided to knock first. The sound inside quieted quickly, and the First Enchanter's tired voice could be heard, "Come in."

Elizar opened the door and stepped inside. He looked at the people who stood within. First he saw Knight-Commander Greagoir, who looked old, but still maintained his look of power and Templar discipline. Then there was the First Enchanter who always managed to look like a man who had to walk a great distance, than return without rest. Despite this, he looked happy to see Elizar, who as of last night was the newest member of the Circle. Then Elizar noticed the third man in the room. He looked a great deal younger than Irving or Greagoir, had black hair tied into a ponytail, and had a sword and dagger strapped on his back.

"Ah, young Elizar!" Irving greeted with a warm smile and a welcoming gesture of raising his arms wide. Then the man behind him spoke, his voice deep and charismatic.

"I take it this is the apprentice you spoke of Irving?" Irving walked toward Elizar and put a hand on his shoulder.

"He is an apprentice no longer Duncan! He is now a mage of the Circle." Elizar could hear how proud Irving was in the tone of the First Enchanters voice and felt good for making him feel a little joy. Irving was one of the few instructors that Elizar genuinely liked.

Greagoir seemed to have had enough of this distraction, and reestablished why they were arguing in the first place.

"As I was saying, the Circle has already given seven mages to the king's army, and the Chantry will send no more! We have sent more than enough of our own to fight the darkspawn!"

"Our own? Since when you felt such kinship with the mages Greagoir?"

"I'm just saying tha-"

"You don't want to let too many mages learn that there is a world beyond this tower? Oh I agree Knight-Commander that would be terrible!" Elizar said with his trademark smirk. Greagoir looked annoyed, but settled with an angry huff and left the study.

Irving looked to the sarcastic mage with an amusing look of both amusement and scolding.

"Elizar, you are now a full member of the circle, which means…" Irving went over to his desk and picked up a pile of robes and a staff that stood beside it and gave them to Elizar. "It is now my honor to welcome you to our number. These robes, this staff, and this ring are your prizes for passing your harrowing." Elizar held the robes in arms, feeling a sense of pride that he had now taken the final step.

"Thank you First Enchanter. The only thing that could make this better would be a recess from the tower!" Irving smiled tiredly

"Alas, that is not in my power to grant. But I have been rude! Elizar, this is Duncan, commander of the Grey Wardens in Ferelden." Duncan nodded, and Elizar returned it, but mainly as a formality, as he knew little of the Grey Wardens beyond what his teachers had taught him about how they devoted their lives to fighting darkspawn. The Templars seemed to joke about how mages were the reason that the darkspawn existed, so the Wardens were cleaning up their mess.

Irving spoke again, "Duncan is here to gather mages for the Kings army at Ostagar." THAT got Elizar's attention.

"You mean mages leaving the tower?"

"That is correct; the Chantry provided only seven mages. I had hoped to gather more not only for the army, but I'm also looking for recruits to join the Grey Wardens." Irving spoke before Elizar could try to get Duncan to let him join.

"If you would like to speak with Duncan some more child, than you may be the one to escort him to his quarters. Is that agreeable to you Duncan?"

"Of course First Enchanter." Elizar and Duncan then left the First Enchanters study and proceeded to take the long way so that Elizar could ask questions.

{Inside the towers chantry}

Sarah could only wonder what Jowan was so panicked about, and when she saw him standing next to a chantry sister, her number of questions only increased. When she could contain it her curiosity no longer, she began to quickly ask questions.

"Jowan, what's this about? Why the Chantry where the Templars love to be when not policing us? And who is that?" This last question was with a raised arm and pointed finger. Jowan quickly raised his hands and begged her to lower her voice.

"You remember how a few weeks ago I said I met a girl? This is Lily." He said with a gesture of his arm.

"Hello" Lily said. Jowan had obviously not told her that he would be bringing her, as she was staring quite openly. Sarah decided to ask again "What's going on Jowan?"

Jowan hesitated, but spoke

"I found out why I haven't been called for my Harrowing! They're going to make me tranquil!" Sarah looked aghast at this news, but wondered how Jowan could possibly know this. So she decided to ask him directly.

"Are you sure about this?"

It was not Jowan, but Lily who spoke.

"I was delivering documents to the Knight-commander's study when I saw the document that would authorize using the Rite on Jowan. The First Enchanter had signed it!"

Sarah was looking increasingly troubled the more she learned about this.

"Why would they make you Tranquil? They need to have a good reason don't they?" Jowan's face took on a look of fear, and as he answered, it could be heard.

"They think I've been practicing Blood magic!"

Sarah immediately felt her legs weaken, and had to ask what the question that formed in her mind, but she also feared the answer.

"Have you?" Jowan quickly shook his head, saying

"No, of course not! I would never use Blood Magic I swear!"

Sarah felt a bit better at his fierce denial, and so asked

"What's the plan?"

"Let's find Elizar first, we will need his help!" So Jowan and Sarah left Lily in the chapel, and went to find their friend and ask for his help. All the while not knowing one mage and Templar had heard part of their conversation.

"Did you hear that Cullen?" Solona asked, a look of excitement on her face.

Cullen nodded, looking more nervous than excited,

"We had better tell the Knight-Commander!" as he started moving in the direction of the third floor. But Solona stopped him by grabbing his arm, causing him to blush.

"Tell him what? That a plan is being made but we know nothing about it? No, we wait until we know the whole plan. So get comfortable!" Cullen sighed, but sat down next to her, awaiting the return of the escape conspirators.

A.N.

This is chapter four. Please review and tell me what you think.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC's. Dragon Age is the property of Bioware.

While Elizar and his friends began work to free Jowan, things at Ostagar were heating up slowly. No one said anything, but everyone could fell that something big would be happening soon, and the fate of Ferelden would be decided by the outcome. And Nolan was doing everything possible to prepare for the coming battle against the darkspawn hoard.

He had received the casualty reports from his men at the end of the previous day, and he was saddened by the facts shown to him. Trenton's men had suffered the loss of sixty-five of his one hundred men. The men sent to reinforce him had been the only thing to stop his complete destruction. And they had suffered for it by losing anywhere from ten to thirty men. But Marian in particular had tried to cheer the men up by saying that the darkspawn had likely lost two to three times as many as they had suffered. Nolan publicly agreed and encouraged the men as best he could. But in privet he admitted to himself that they may have killed a few hundred darkspawn, but there could be thousands if not tens of thousands of darkspawn out there in the wilds, simply waiting for the right moment.

He heard sounds outside of his tent, so decided to get to stretch his legs and see what was causing it. When he stepped outside, he saw the answer to his question. Nearby was the Highever encampment, containing troops that had arrived just the other day. They had arrived while Nolan had been giving his report of the battle to his father.

King Cailen was the one to tell them, as he and Fergus Cousland were friends. Though Nolan sometimes saw that Fergus would use chances to get away and breathe, then return to his king's side. Nolan could understand this and whenever he saw this, he gave Fergus an encouraging grin, which he would return with gratitude that someone understood his actions.

What the captain was not expecting was for the man's sister to be accompanying him. From what Fergus had told him, his younger brother Aedan was being given the reins of Highever, and he was to lead the men south ahead of his father and Arl Howe. His Sister's arrival had not been planned on, but she refused to be left behind. "She wouldn't say exactly why she wanted to come, but she also wouldn't take no for an answer. So father and I said 'Elissa, if you can gather two hundred sword arms for the army, you can come.' So imagine our surprise when she comes by three days later with two hundred and seven elves that she had rallied from the Alienage. We both asked how she thought elves would fight for the army; she responds with, 'These elves will be loyal to me, because I have been loyal to them. I have promised fair pay and good equipment, all they will need is bit of training. And you never said the soldiers had to be human!' she had us, so here she is."

Nolan had found that story very amusing, knowing that something of that nature fit well with the Cousland children. Nolan had always gotten on well with the children, even if their parents didn't agree on some things. He and Aedan were commonly sparring partners, and it was often hard to tell who was more skilled, but Nolan knew he had won the last match, and so currently held the lead by one match. Elissa on the other hand, was a different woman then what he was used to with Anora.

While Anora liked the fancy things that came with being noble, Elissa loved putting boys who thought a lot of themselves in their place. Anora was neat and organized; Elissa was that when she chose to be. But that was a decreasing rarity. When she was younger, her things could be found anywhere, her hair was left untidy and ragged, and she loved practicing with swords and bows.

Now however, she was showing her age a bit more. While she still loved practicing with her bow, she had mellowed greatly after turning eighteen. When he talked to Aedan about it during a sparring match, he said that their mother had made her a deal of some kind and neither of them spoke of it. Nolan still didn't know what the deal she made was, but she went three years without causing a scene, so he figured it was probably important to her.

Nolan was broken out of reminiscing when he heard the voice of the training officers that were put in charge of training Elissa's elves.

"Come on you bloody knife-ears, my job is to get you ready to fight the darkspawn, so that's what I'm going to do!" He was being rough on them, but Nolan had assured Elissa when he chose this man was that he was just as rough on his human recruits.

"How are they coming along so far?" Nolan turned and saw Elissa approaching, clad in her sturdy leather armor, her bow across her back and a pair of daggers, one on her back, the other on her waist. Nolan smiled,

"They are actually doing pretty well on the archery range, and with more practice they should perform well in battles to come."

"That's your honest opinion?"

"Your all being placed in my unit, so I had better be sure how ready you all are." Elissa looked interested at that bit of news.

"We're being put under your command and not my brothers?"

"My unit suffered some tremendous damage in a recent battle, most of them were archers, so your men will have to fill the holes in my unit."

"Your men will fight beside elves?"

"If I tell them to, yes they will." Elissa smiled a sort of smile that made Nolan curious. "Why are you smiling like that?" he asked, with a trace of suspicion in his voice.

"You've really taken on the mantle of captain pretty well. I bet when I tell Aedan about all he missed he will turn green with envy." Her smile became much more mischievous.

Before Nolan could comment, the sound of a dog barking and a man yelping got their attention. They rushed over and saw a rather amusing sight. A blond headed man in chainmail armor was trying to keep a piece of meat safe from a charging Mabari, and failing. He was finally tackled and his meat ripped from his hand. The Mabari saw the two new arrivals and galloped their way, eager to see them and show them his winnings.

"Hunter, what have I told about taking food from the soldiers?" The hound whimpered at the scolding tone in Elissa's voice, while Nolan went to help the man back to his feet. "Are you alright?" The man put on a sarcastic smile,

"Of course ser, you know it's considered a sign you have good taste if a Mabari wants to steel it from you."

Nolan smiled at his joke, but felt he also looked familiar.

"Which company are you with? I feel like I've seen you before!"

"I'm Alistair, of the Grey Wardens ser."

Then the memory clicked into his mind, as this man was often seen about the camp, doing various odd jobs for the Wardens.

Elissa came up, Hunter at her heels.

"Now Hunter, say you're sorry to the Warden!" Hunter lowered his head and dropped the last of the meat at Alistair's feet.

"Um, thank you for the gesture, so you can keep it, no problems between us right?"

Hunter barked joyfully, hoped in a circle, picked up the meat again, and ran off to enjoy it.

"You really shouldn't spoil him like that, now he may start coming back for more!" Alistair laughed nervously, and rubbed the back of his head. Nolan decided to head back to his tent and finish his work, until Cailen called him over from the distance wanting to talk to him.

"Looks like I won't be getting any more work done today!" he said tiredly. He walked towards the king, and after giggling at his comment, Elissa followed after him. Alistair decided he had better go to the mess tent, as his lunch had been stolen.

A.N

I know these last two chapters were light on the action, but there will be some in the next chapter. This one was to help lay the groundwork for the plot I plan on going with. Please let me know what you think in the reviews. Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Dragon Age is the property of Bioware; I own nothing except for my OC's

Elizar had to pause and rest after casting several spells in quick succession at the darkspawn that were strolling about the wilds. He saw Ser Jory, the knight from Redcliff fighting a Hurlock in the front, with Daveth providing archer support. Sarah was helping Alistair deal with a pair of darkspawn that had sprung up behind them.

After the last of the monsters fell, they finally approached the tower ruins that held the treaties they were searching for. Elizar felt something was wrong when he found only an empty chest.

"What have we here I wonder?" Elizar snapped his head to where the sound was coming from, and saw a woman. But she was not just any kind of woman. This woman was beautiful, intimidating, and mysterious. From her Hawkish yellow eyes, her rather revealing choice of clothing,(Which made no sense to Elizar, as the wilds were freezing) and the way she carried herself, cautious, but proud.

She spoke again, "A scavenger? A vulture looking for scraps on bones that have long since been picked clean? Or merely an intruder, looking for easy prey in this darkspawn filled forest of mine? Well which is it then, scavenger or intruder?"

Elizar chose to answer her, as he did not feel like hearing his companions ask stupid questions of their own.

"Neither, the Grey Wardens own this tower!"

The woman looked to him,

"Tis a tower no longer, the Wilds have long since claimed this ruin. I have watched your progress for some time. 'Where do they go' I wonder, 'why are they here'? And now you touch ashes none have touched for centuries, why?"

"Don't answer her, she looks Chasind! That means others may be nearby…"  
"Ohh," the woman said in a mocking tone, "You fear Barbarians will swoop down upon you."

"Yes, swooping is bad."

Daveth and Jory began to squabble amongst themselves, while the woman noticed Sarah.

"You there, with the horns, surly you do not frighten like these little boys. Tell me your name and I shall tell you mine." Sarah looked surprised at being addressed by the strange woman, but decided to answer. "I'm Sarah, nice to meet you."

"Well that is a proper civil greeting, even here in the wilds! You may call me Morrigan."

{Later in the day}

Less than an hour later they were on their way back to Ostagar, Treaties and darkspawn blood in tow. They had received the treaties from Morrigan's mother, who it seemed Elizar just loved.

"She is completely crazy, yet sane at the same time, she is one of the greatest insane witches I have ever met!"

"How many other insane witches have you met?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Don't' tell me you've already forgotten about Solona Amell!?" Elizar said with an amazed look. Sarah covered her mouth with her hand and started giggling.

"I agree, I like Morrigan's mother much more, and I've only known her for an hour!" Alistair looked confused at the idea that anyone could be so terrible that some crazy old woman in the wilds was an improvement.

{Nolan's camp}

Elissa walked with her elven commander, a red headed middle aged man named Leeran Koris.

"How are your people adjusting to the army Leeran?"

Leeran looked to her and said

"Very well, my lady. The rest of Captain Mac Tir's men have been rather accepting of us. They're at least to the point where they simply ignore us instead of insulting us."

"You're still receiving the supplies that Nolan requisitioned right?"

"Yes ma'am." Elissa and Leeran continued to walk until they arrived at the Nolan's tent. The guard outside looked at them and said,

"Excuse me my lady," Elissa noticed that he did not greet Leeran. "But Captain Mac Tir asked for no interruptions!"

"What's he doing that's so important?"

"I'm not sure, but he simply asked for no interruptions."

The tent flap was pulled aside, and Nolan appeared, dressed in regular clothing instead of his armor.

"To answer your question Elissa, I was sleeping. I did not have a restful sleep last night."

Elissa covered her mouth with both hands, and said "Oh, we didn't wake you did we?"

"No, you only made the old gods wonder 'what is that annoying noise, how am I supposed to guide darkspawn down here over this cursed noise.'" Nolan said, an amused smirk finding its way to his face. Elissa was ready to respond when a courier arrived.

"Captain! Teyrn Loghain wishes to speak with you!" the messenger noticed who else was nearby and quickly apologized for interrupting.

"It's alright," Nolan said, turning back to his tent, "in fact your timing could not have been better! Tell my father that I am on my way."

"Yes ser!"

Elissa, not one to give up easily, decided to follow wait on Nolan. She told Leeran to see to the men, and began to wait. She would have the last word, and nothing, not even the Archdemon would stop her.

{That Dusk, after the Joining}

Elizar awoke slowly, and saw the faces of Duncan and Alistair looking at him. "It is done! Welcome!" Duncan said, as he helped the elf to his feet. Elizar saw that they had removed Jory and Daveth's bodies, but he could see Sarah lying next to where he had been.

"I take it that since she's still here, she survived?" Elizar asked, a slight tone of worry entering his voice. Duncan nodded, and Elizar let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Duncan spoke again.

"The king is holding a meeting, and he requested that you be there. Alistair can stay and watch over Sarah until she awakes. Elizar wasn't sure if he liked the idea of some ex-Templar watching over his friend, again,(no matter how funny he was). He said as much in the glare he shot Alistair, and from the gulp he saw the young man take, he smirked, knowing his message was clear.

The meeting took place not far away, in the ruins of the cathedral. The plan was to have the king's men draw out the darkspawn and hold them off until a signal fire was lit, telling the Teyrn's men to charge and flank the darkspawn. Elizar paid more attention when the king mentioned him,

"…Tell Alistair and the new Grey wardens to protect the beacon!"

The Teyrn spoke next, "You rely on the wardens too much Cailen!" Elizar was about to speak, when a younger man whom he assumed was the Teyrn's son spoke.

"My father is right Cailen! The grey wardens may be skilled but they are not invincible. They will require help if the darkspawn arrive in numbers!"

"What do you propose Nolan?" Loghain asked.

"My forces will be primarily long range archer support to the main force. So I propose sending Donnellson's men to the tower of Ishal to insure it does not fall prey to attack." Loghain considered it, and acquiesced. A mage,(Elizar thought his name was Uldred) spoke, but he was overruled by the revered mother.

The group dispersed soon after, each to their force to give and receive orders. Nolan and his father went to their ambush positions, the king to his army, and Duncan and Elizar to meet up with Alistair and Sarah. 'Duncan is really missing his chance,' Elizar thought to himself. 'Sarah is most dangerous after she wakes up from a nightmare. Oh well, less trouble for us.' Elizar smirked again, as he and his fellow wardens received their instructions, (Of course he had to comment on Alistair's claim that no matter what, he would draw the line at putting on the dress and dancing the remigold) "I don't know Alistair, that could be a great distraction!"

Alistair looked at him, smiling,

"Me shimmying down the darkspawn line? Sure, we can kill them while they roll around laughing!" Duncan let out an exasperated sigh. Sarah just giggled again.

A.N.

The story should get more interesting from here on, so please read and review.

Thank you.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Dragon age is the property of Bioware. I own only the characters that I created.

Elizar was leading Alistair and Sarah along the bridge that led to the tower of Ishal. They could see the darkspawn horde gathering across the valley, with the king's army gathering down below. The darkspawn began to charge, and all three of the young wardens could feel the slight trembling of the ground as the massive force approached the army of men.

They went the rest of the way ducking flaming boulders that the darkspawn were now tossing at them. "How the hell are the darkspawn intelligent enough to build and use Catapults?" Elizar asked angrily, as Sarah helped him off the ground.

"I don't know, but I hope the men at the tower are okay. I saw one of those boulders hit the tower!" The three of them quickly rushed to reach the tower, and when they did, they saw two men quickly rush out. One saw them and approached quickly,

"You three, your grey wardens aren't you? The tower, it's under attack! The darkspawn attacked from the lower levels, the only reason we weren't completely overwhelmed was because of commander Donnellson's men arriving in time to retake the first floor. We lost the upper floors however!" A look of determination crossed Alistair's face,

"Then we'll have to get to the beacon and light it ourselves!" Elizar was surprised by the determination in the ex-templar's voice, and nodded, putting on his smirk,

"Well said my Templar friend! Let's go kick some ass!" The trio of wardens drew their weapons and began their fight to the top of the tower.

{Eastern overlook, Nolan's position}

Nolan watched as the battle began. First Cailen launched a volley of arrows into the charging hoard, a decision he approved of. What came next however, he did not approve. Cailen ordered the Mabari pack to charge the hoard, killing several darkspawn, but at the cost of all of the hounds. Cailen was starting his own charge when Marian asked what was happening. "Cailen has ordered his men to charge! That may increase moral, but he should have kept the hounds in reserve so they could attack the darkspawn while they are focused on the men. And he had plenty of time to launch at least two, maybe three, more volleys of arrows! Cailen would get himself killed if he were fighting an enemy that possessed even the most basic ideas of tactical warfare!" Marian was surprised by the captain's short speech that seemed as much to him as to her.

He looked away from the escalating conflict below and looked to his second in command. "Is everyone ready for the signal?"

"Yes ser, when the beacon is lit, the darkspawn won't even know what hit them." This was Nolan's part of the plan, when the beacon was lit; he was to unleash a volley of arrows into the darkspawn flank opposite his father. Standing order was to release arrows at will after the first wave.

Nolan returned his gaze to battlefield below him, and once again found himself praying silently to the Maker that his brother-in-law and all the others that he cared for would survive Cailen's quest for glory.

{The Tower of Ishal: Second floor}

Elizar and Sarah had met up with commander Donnellson and his surviving forces, and had decided to push the darkspawn positions on the second and third floors. So far that was working rather well, as the darkspawn had mainly gained the upper floors using surprise instead of overwhelming numbers. Donnellson had remarked that it felt good to have numbers higher than the darkspawn for once.

"I bet, especially since you also have three grey wardens on your side this time to, and two of them are mages!" Elizar had been quick to point out.

"That definitely doesn't hurt our chances." The old soldier commented. Alistair however was more concerned with the fact that the darkspawn were here at all.

"This makes no sense! There weren't supposed to be any darkspawn here!" Elizar, of course had to take this opportunity.

"You could try telling them they're in the wrong place!" Nearly everyone within earshot actually smiled slightly at that, despite the situation, even Alistair.

"Right, because this is all clearly a big misunderstanding. We'll laugh about this later!" Sarah smiled again,

"I think we already are, Alistair!" Alistair smiled in spite of himself, but quickly returned to the serious matter at hand.

"We have to move quickly!"

Donnellson was quick to join him on the line of thought.

"The young man is right, we must hurry! The outcome of this battle depends on us reaching that beacon!" The men all advanced towards the hall that led to the stairs, and the surviving darkspawn were waiting for them. Elizar launched a ball of fire against a pair of Genlock archers, frying them instantly. Sarah sent a bolt of lightning into the lone Hurlock, and while it was still stunned, Donnellson removed its head.

The handful of remaining darkspawn on the second floor were dealt with, and after any injuries that could hinder combat were seen to by Sarah, they went on to the third floor. More Genlocks stood in their way, but thanks to one soldier's quick thinking, several cages containing Mabari war hounds were opened, and the Ferelden force decimated the darkspawn. With two quick victories under their belt, they proceeded with outstanding moral to the top of the tower.

And what they saw lowered their spirits somewhat. A massive horned creature was hunched over, devouring the corpse of one of the towers original defenders. It turned when it heard the sound of approaching footsteps. When it saw the growing force of soldiers, it wiped its mouth and roared loudly.

The Ogre then began to stomp its way toward the soldiers, who quickly realized that they had to move out of its way. Donnellson and Alistair led the attack, slashing at the beasts massive legs. The Ogre would reach for them, but they quickly moved out of reach, so it then went after the other humans gathered around it. It picked up one soldier and tossed him like a rag doll into a group of three other men. It then slammed its massive fist into the crowd of pesky soldiers, crushing at least one of them. This was followed by the Ogre swinging its great fists back and forth, with much greater results.

One of the victims of this last attack was Donnellson, who landed near the remnants of the boulder that had hit the tower earlier. Donnellson stood up, clutching his side. He looked at the battle still raging behind him. The warden mages were doing everything they could without hitting his soldiers, many of whom were now lying scattered across the tower floor. Donnellson knew what he had to do. He painfully bent over and picked up a piece of flaming timber and limed slowly toward the signal fire pit.

Sarah drank another lyrium potion, feeling a little woozy afterward, but shook it off. That monster just was not dying, no matter how much it was hurt. While she contemplated what to try next, she saw the commander carrying a flaming piece of wood, and noticing how painful his walk was. She cast one of her healing spells at him, to at least get him to the beacon, then returned her attention to the Ogre and saw something that took her breath away.

{}

Alistair was felling the fatigue of the fight, and he knew it had to end soon. He remembered Duncan teaching him about the different types of darkspawn, and tried to recall what he said about Ogres. 'They have to sustain serious injury to the brain or heart to finally die, or they'll quickly recover!' He remembered. So he did something that was really pretty stupid. He leapt at the monster's chest and plunged his sword deep into its chest. He followed this with several more stabs of his sword until he knew it was dead. Everyone cheered at the victory, when they heard the sound of a fire roaring to life.

{}

Donnellson felt the healing magic relieve some of the pain, and silently thanked the Kossith woman. He heard a great crash, and without looking back, knew it was the Ogre hitting the ground. He finally reached the fire pit, and placed the flaming wood he was carrying onto the tinder. "For Ferelden!" He said softly to himself, and his world then quickly faded into darkness, with the sound of his men's cheers reaching his ears. The old man smiled, and hit the floor, unmoving.

A.N

First named character death, what did you think? I thought about it, and having Donnellson die as a martyr was a good way to justify him being able to help retake the tower. Better for him to die this way, then to be forgotten in later chapter's right?


	8. Chapter 8

Victory in the Valley.

Disclaimer: Dragon age is the property of Bioware, I own only my OC's.

Nolan saw the beacon ignite in the tower, and smiled. He gave the signal to Marian, who gave the order for the archers to unleash the first volley into the darkspawn. Even without Donnellson's men, Nolan still had a sizable force under his command, thanks in large part to Elissa's reinforcements.

He watched as hundreds of arrows flew from his position into the charging hoard, killing the darkspawn in droves. The arrows continued to fly, albeit more sporadically, as the orders were to keep launching arrows until their quivers were empty. At that point, they were to simply wait until they were all handed fresh arrows, which Nolan had arranged for earlier.

Nolan noticed that his father's men had yet to charge, and began to wonder what was wrong. Then he heard the sounding of horns to the north. He looked quickly, and what he saw robbed him of breath. He saw hundreds of men charging to reinforce the exhausted forces serving with the king. He recognized the sound; it was the horn of Amaranthine. The forces of Arl Howe had arrived, precisely when they were needed. Nolan felt tears of joy begin to appear in his eyes, so beautiful the sight before him was. 'Thank you Maker, thank you!' Nolan said, once again praying silently.

{}

Teyrn Loghain watched as the beacon was lit. He waited, not yet giving the order to charge, still deciding if the battle could be won. He was about to decide on retreat, when the horns sounded. He watched as Amaranthine forces poured into the valley, eager to help the King's greatly fatigued forces. He looked towards his son's position, and made his choice. "Sound…the attack!" Ser Cauthrien, his loyal second in command nodded, silently relieved that the order had finally come.

"Charge!" She shouted. The men slammed into the western flank of the darkspawn, with Howe's men attacking from the north.

Using their momentum to the fullest, the soldiers of Ferelden pressed against the hoard, and could sense the coming victory. Within an hour of brutal fighting, the last of the darkspawn fell back, and the Ferelden survivors let out a great shout, that could be heard all the way at the top of the Tower of Ishal.

Elizar, Sarah, and Alistair were all resting, along with the surviving soldiers of Donnellson's unit. They all had a moment of silence in his honor, then set about finding survivors of the Ogre's vicious assault. Health poultices and healing spells were cast about, and they saved as many men as they could. To Sarah though, she felt it wasn't enough. She was unknowingly sharing the same line of thinking as Alistair, who felt that they could have done more somehow.

When they heard the sound of cheering from below, they peered over the edge of the Tower. They saw the retreating torches of the darkspawn, and the cheering forces of Ferelden. Sarah felt her energy return and she pulled both Elizar and Alistair into a tight hug; the joy she felt was immeasurable, and both of her friends were still alive, even after Alistair's little stunt. Elizar and Alistair both looked surprised, (Alistair felt himself blush slightly at the sudden embrace) but they could understand her feelings, it meant that Donnellson and all the others who had fallen had not died in vein.

Some men came up from below, saying that some darkspawn had attempted to retake the tower, but they had stopped them quickly by collapsing the tunnels they were using. The trio of wardens began the slow descent to the bottom floor of the tower, intent on reaching the grey warden camp and getting a well-deserved rest.

{}

Nolan was walking through the camp, personally congratulating every soldier he met, especially the soldiers from Amaranthine. He found Cailan sitting on a camp stool, his great-sword leaning on one of the stone pillars. Cailan looked up and smiled,

"Nolan, I'm glad to see you are well. But the glory belongs to my men unfortunately for you." Nolan smiled dryly,

"Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure it was the Amaranthine troops and my father's charge that saved your men's lives." Cailan waved off that comment, deciding to let his brother-in-law have this small victory. Nothing could describe how well Cailan was feeling. Deep down he had known the battle could not be won, and he was never so glad to have been wrong. He was glad that Nolan had survived at least, he was one of the few men he could honestly say he would trust with his life, (Which he had just a few hours ago).

While the young king was considering this, Loghain approached the two men. He felt honestly surprised at how things had worked out. The Amaranthine forces arrived just when he was ready to pull out. He had always felt that Cailan's hunger for glory would get him killed, and it nearly had. Loghain was forced to remember who else would have died had he left. His son had performed his assigned task beautifully! There was no doubt that Nolan would make an outstanding replacement when he was gone. 'Would he have survived if I hadn't attacked?' Loghain asked himself, and he didn't like the obvious answer.

As he approached the circle of pillars where his son and the king were talking, he saw another figure approaching who looked like his father, but was much more readily liked. And Loghain was not the only one who noticed the newcomer, as Cailan all but shouted a greeting, which caused Nolan to turn around. Nolan looked quite surprised to see this man instead of the man's father. "Nathaniel? What are you doing here? I thought your father sent you to the Free Marches!"

Nathaniel Howe approached them, his naturally straight face betraying no emotion. "My father fell ill before the march south, and I had just returned in time to lead the men." He spoke very simply, embellishing no detail. "Teyrn Cousland is here as well." This last sentence was directed to the king more than Nolan or his father.

After talking for a while, Nolan excused himself, saying he needed to get some rest and recommended the same to the others. When he reached his troops camp, he was surprised when he was met with groups of cheers from across the area. He also noticed that the men were celebrating with mugs of Ale and cheerful voices. He almost broke out laughing when he saw Carver and some of his men began singing a song that likely was written in the Lothering taverns as he had never heard it. It was the type of song to sing while you're drunk because how you sounded did not matter in the least. Marian was slightly less tipsy than her brother, but she seemed to be enjoying a conversation with the sober Leeran a little too much.

He reached his tent after accepting a drink or two and congratulating the men when he got the chance. He opened the tent flap and found Hunter sleeping below his bed, and looking up was the hounds master Elissa Cousland herself. From the smell of the tent, she had enjoyed herself to, and he was sorry that he had missed the likely entertaining show. He decided to let her sleep, not wanting to see her during the coming hangover. He stepped outside again and joined his unit commanders around a fire.

Carver and Marian were having a drinking contest, and Trenton was keeping score with Leeran. Some of the men seemed to be placing bets on who they thought would win. After looking at both of them Nolan walked over and asked for the odds. "It's three to one on Carver winning, but I don't like the look on his face!"

Nolan grinned slightly, "Give me one Sovereign on Carver!" The man looked surprised, but consented. Nolan watched as the Hawke siblings both downed their ninth mug of ale, and finally, Marian fell backward into the arms of one of the spectators.

Nolan smiled as he collected his winnings, finding that he had been one of three people to bet on Carver. He walked toward the drunken younger brother, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good job Carver, good job." Carver smiled drunkenly and summarily passed out. Nolan counted the gold he had won with Carver's unexpected victory, finding he had won 233 silver. 'Good job indeed Carver!' Nolan thought to himself, now going to get a new cot to sleep on.

A.N.

Yes, Ostagar was a victory for Ferelden. If you dislike this, it's well within your rights to stop reading this story. To answer one of my reviewer's questions, yes, the other wardens will be in this story, and within the next few chapters we will be seeing the Dalish warden, followed most likely by the city elf. By then, I may have decided how to incorporate the dwarven wardens into the story in the best way

The 25th Doctor.


	9. Chapter 9

**Enter Lothering and the Dalish  
**

It had been three days since the last great battle in the valley. A few darkspawn stragglers had probed at the Ferelden defenses at Ostagar, but were repelled with little effort. Sarah finished packing her knapsack, and was ready to go. She walked out of the tent she had to herself as the only female currently in the wardens. She saw Alistair who was still looking pretty down. After the sun had risen after the battle, they had learned that the other grey wardens had been massacred to the last. Duncan had been the last to fall it seemed, as he had saved Cailan from an Ogre that had tried to grab him. Alistair had taken the news harder than either herself or Elizar. She had tried to be a comforting presence for him, but wasn't able to do much else, as she was unfamiliar with the feeling he was suffering from.

Yesterday they had met with Morrigan and with her mother again, who had inspired them to seek out the allies that the grey warden treatise promised, and at the same time rebuild the wardens. She had revealed herself to be Flemeth, possibly the Flemeth from the legends. She also told Morrigan to accompany them, as they would likely need the help. Morrigan protested, but was quickly brought around. She left with them, but remained isolated within the camp, talking little to anyone.

They were getting ready to depart when they saw Captain Mac Tir and king Cailan approaching. Alistair looked up and saw that following behind them was also Elissa Cousland, who looked as though she had recently cried, though she was smiling. The reason for this was that they had recently recovered Fergus's scouting party, which had met a group of stragglers on the way back to Ostagar. When he made it back, slightly worse for the wear, she had charged him and embraced him at full speed, with her father following behind her, albeit at a slower rate. Nolan had smiled at the sight of the Cousland family reunion, but knew larger matters were at hand.

And so now here he was, leading a horse, with Elissa and Hunter behind him. They approached the Grey Wardens with king, ready to explain. Nolan decided to speak first. "Wardens, the king, my father and I have agreed that I should accompany you, to see to it that along with mages, elves and dwarves, a larger human contingent fills the ranks of those we lost three days ago." Alistair appeared to be at a loss for words, but Elizar seemed to find a few.

"So, you want to follow us as we trek across this frigid, maker forsaken land known as Ferelden to make sure enough troops join up, am I correct?" Nolan nodded. "Well then, welcome aboard, we needed someone who wasn't a mage anyway." Elizar said this, spreading his arms out, and emphasized the latter half of his sentence with a gesture to himself and Sarah and Morrigan. Elissa walked forward.

"I'm coming too, I need to return to Highever, and maybe visit Denerim, I plan on recruiting more elves if I can!"

Elizar put on a flirtatious look and said, "I was about to invite you anyway my lady! One can never be traveling with too many pretty girls." Elissa smiled and shook her head, and Elizar knew his joke had gone through. Smiling, he began to lead the way after a brief farewell with the king, (Which Nolan tried to hasten, not wishing to be delayed any longer than needed.) They were now well on their way to the village of Lothering.

{}

Theron Mahariel stood by his friend Tamlen, his bow at the ready. The shemlen who had trespassed to close to the camp now looked truly scared, They could have taken Tamlen alone, but now two would be dead if they made the wrong move and would leave the last one to fight them alone.

"What do you think we should do with them Lethallin? They're likely bandits."

The human in the lead quickly panicked, raising his hands, and his voice rising to an unnaturally high note. "No we're not bandits we swear!" Tamlen scoffed.

"You shemlen are pathetic, it's amazing that you ever drove us from our homeland!"

"We haven't done anything to you elves! We didn't even know this forest was yours!" Another of the humans said desperately said. Tamlen scowled at that comment.

"This forest is not ours Shem! You have wondered too close to our camp."

The last human began to speak. "We didn't mean to find you Dalish, we were just exploring the cave!" Tamlin's eyebrows rose.

"I've heard of no caves here." Theron then spoke for the first time since he arrived.

"Tell us about this cave!" the string of his bow tightened slightly. The most calm of the humans noticed, and hurriedly began to tell the story.

"We found a cave in the side of a cliff, within the rock face. We saw it and thought we might find-"

"Treasure?" Tamlen interrupted "So you're more akin to thieves then actual bandits."

"But we found this!" He held out his hand, and within it was a stone. Tamlen took it (Theron was careful to keep his arrow trained on the trio of humans.) Tamlen gazed at the stone, an amazed look in his eyes.

"Is this elvish writing?" He retrained his arrow. "Why didn't you take more?"

"We were chased out by a demon! It was massive!"

"A demon?" Tamlen scoffed disbelieving. "Where is this cave?"

"To the west I think." Tamlen looked to his friend.

"What do you think, should we let them go?" Theron thought on it for a moment.

"Tell me shem, how close is the nearest town?"

"That's Lothering, maybe a half day's walk." Theron thought on it more.

"Don't let us see you anywhere near here again; we'll kill you on sight next time we see you!" At this the three humans turned and ran as fast as they could away from the duo of elves. Tamlen turned to his friend.

"I'm surprised you let them live Lethallin."

"I proved that we have more pride and dignity then they, simple as that." He said this while placing his arrow back in its quiver, and then swept his black hair out of his face. He saw the way Tamlen was looking at him, and knew that he wouldn't like it. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Perhaps we should investigate this cave, see what other relics those cowardly Shems overlooked in their haste."

"And you aren't worried about this demon then?"

"Don't tell me you actually believe that. They probably just woke up a bear and panicked. Now come on, let's get going." Tamlen started down the path to where this cave was supposedly. Theron followed, but he couldn't shake the bad feeling he was getting in his gut.

{}

Nolan had been in Lothering for no more than fifteen minutes and he was already feeling a hurry to move on. The moment he arrived he was charged by a wave of refugees, all asking what had happened at Ostagar, and the fates of loved ones, as news had reached them the previous day of a costly victory. He found himself constantly reassuring the people that he and the grey wardens were going out to gather reinforcements. He now had the duty to deliver unfortunate news to families that would soon be grieving. Yes, he was ready to leave this place as soon as possible.

{}

Elizar wasn't sure what to think. The red headed chantry sister in front of him seemed rather crazy, but then maybe he shouldn't be the one to judge. Alistair leaned in and whispered, "We may as well see what she can do. Besides, she seems more 'Oh pretty colors' crazy than 'I'm princess stabity! Stab, stab! Kill kill!" Elizar smirked at that. He looked at the woman, and said,

"Well, we were about to go fight some bandits, if you want to try your hand at fighting beside Grey wardens, then you are welcome to join us." The sister smiled, and spoke in her Orlesion accent. "Thank you, I know you won't regret this. My name is Leliana, formally of the Lothering chantry." This was when Alistair noticed that he couldn't see Sarah. He told this to Elizar, who brought his palm to his face,

"She is an eight foot giant with purple skin and horns, how does someone lose track of a person like that in a sea of humans and elves?!"

{}

"How did I lose track of a red headed elf mage, a blond human with a suit a chainmail, and a witch of the wilds who leaves little to the imagination?!" Sarah whispered to herself. She looked over the heads of the many people who were looking at her oddly, and she found herself blushing, feeling embarrassed. She could see the village Chantry, and a bridge that led to the town proper. She remembered Elizar saying they should go to the tavern, so she looked for the tavern, and failed to find it. She now found herself near the town's northern gate, where she heard strange chanting. She turned and saw a giant standing in a cage just to the left of the gate. She looked at him more closely, listening to the chant.

He noticed her as well, and if he was surprised to see her, then he did a good job of hiding it. She knew he was Qunari, but she had no idea what he was doing in a cage. She was surprised when he addressed her. "I have nothing to say that would amuse a Tal Vashoth, leave my sight!" Sarah could hear the disgust he held for her, and felt a bit angry about it.

"I'm not a Tal Vashoth, I grew up in the circle tower, I never learned about the Qun!" That only seemed to make him angrier.

"You are an unchained Saarebas, and a Vashoth as well! I have nothing to say to you! Leave now!" Sarah was about to answer when a shout from a familiar looking elf caught their attention.

"You see Alistair, I knew we would find her talking to the guy in the cage."

{}

Theron managed to pull Tamlen out of the path of a trap before he activated it. After disarming it, and dealing with more spiders, they entered a long hallway. They found a strange statue and began to discuss to discuss it when they saw something that should be impossible; the skeletons that were scattered about were standing up again, with swords in their hands. Theron drew his Dar'Misaan blades and targeted the ones closest to Tamlen, who drew his bow and joined in the fight. Theron thrust his long sword at the skull of the nearest monster. His blade went straight through the decayed bone and the creature fell. Tamlen fired an arrow that went through the knee of another skeleton. The creature went down, but persisted, crawling on one leg, holding its blade in the hand that wasn't supporting its body in staying up. Theron quickly concluded that destroying the head was the only way to kill them for good, and so aimed for the head of any skeleton that dared to approach him.

After a few minutes, the rest of the creatures lay dead once again. Tamlen looked aghast. "Those were walking skeletons!" Theron rolled his eyes at the obvious statement, but was also interested as to why the dead were walking about. Theron noticed a trap that was beyond his skill to disarm, so he and Tamlen skirted around the side, to another door.

And what they found inside was a large mirror, and a massive bear shaped thing charging at them. Tamlen tried to ready an arrow, but the monster overwhelmed him. He was now pinned beneath the behemoth, and was nothing short of terrified. Theron began to stab at the beast's armored hide, if only to draw it away from his friend. The monster turned toward Theron in time to receive a stab to its eye. It roared in pain, and then swiped Theron's sword out of his hand. Theron drew his knife and continued his attack, while Tamlen stood up and prepared to draw an arrow. Finally, after much loud roaring and stabbing, the creature fell to the ground. Theron retrieved his Dar'Misaan and stabbed it twice into the strange beast to ensure it was dead.

He turned to Tamlen, who was nursing some pain from the creature's attack. "I think we found that demon those Shems were talking about. Now, what about this mirror?" The two clan mates approached the stoned framed glass. Tamlen swallowed and placed his hand on the glass. The strange surface rippled at his touch, and he began to see a vision. He decided to relay it to his friend.

"I see a city… underground… and there's a dark presence. Wait, it knows I'm here, it sees me! I can't pull my hand away!" The mirror released a shockwave that threw them both back, and Theron fell into unconscious.

A.N.

Long chapter.

I apologize for the long update, I had little opportunity to get much writing done.

And for those who may not know the difference between a Tal Vashoth and a Vashoth here are their definitions.

Tal Vashoth- A qunari who has learned the Qun, and has rejected its teachings.

Vashoth- A qunari who has never learned the Qun for one reason or another. They are different from the bas, who are simply people who are basically everyone who is not Qunari.

Also please leave a review, I would really appreciate feed back on what you think I need to improve on.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's not even my birthday!**

Elizar walked behind Alistair, and behind him was Sarah and Sten. Sarah was walking a good distance from the qunari, and he seemed to like it that way. Elizar had seen him released because the wardens could use all the help they could get, though it seemed convincing Sarah it was a good idea had been harder than convincing the revered mother. Leliana was walking next to the female Kossith, talking about shoes. "The shoes in Orlais always went with the popular trend of the time, not like the disgusting boots here in Ferelden." Sarah looked at her shoes, which had been custom made for her in the circle, since her shoe size was larger than anyone else's.

"Do you think Orlais carries shoes large enough for me? Because I would like to see that."

Leliana considered it for a moment, than giggled lightly.

"They would likely have to make them especially for you, meaning you could decide how to decorate them." Leliana seemed exited at the thought. Their conversation continued on loudly enough that Alistair and Elizar could hear them quite clearly. The conversation shifted to dresses, and Leliana seemed to make a promise that when the group arrived in Denerim, they were going shopping to get her some nice clothes. Elizar smirked.

Well, looks they became friends pretty quickly eh?" He saw that Alistair seemed to be daydreaming. "Hello? Grey wardens to Alistair can you hear me?" no luck. "Well, guess that means the cheese is all mine." That got a reaction from the blonde headed warden.

"Don't touch that it's mine!" He said quickly, then sighing as he realized the elf was kidding. "Don't even joke about that!" Elizar laughed.

"It was the only way to stop you from fantasizing about Sarah in a pretty dress." Alistair blushed slightly, and quickly began to speak in his defense.

"I wasn't thinking about that!" Elizar raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I was… thinking about Duncan." His face dropped, and his head went down. Elizar's smile dropped slowly. He had to be honest with himself, he didn't really have much of an opinion about Duncan, having known him for only a few days before the man's death. But he knew Alistair was deeply hurt because Duncan was someone close to him. He remembered how he felt when Jowan revealed that he had lied to them about using blood magic. He also felt that whatever pain he felt at the betrayal, it was likely tripled for Sarah, since he was one of the two people she trusted completely, out a tower that practically despised her.

He noticed that Alistair was speaking again, so he snapped out of his reverie and listened. "Have you or Sarah ever lost any one close to you?" Elizar began to think on it.

"I never knew my parents; I spent my entire life growing up in the tower." He turned his head to Sarah, Alistair doing the same. "And I don't think Sarah knew her family either, other than some weird dreams she would tell us about." Alistair looked back at the elf mage, and opened his mouth to speak, when he turned his head suddenly to the right.

"Do you sense that?" He said slowly, drawing his sword and shield from his back. Elizar pulled out his staff.

"I feel a slight tingling, if that's what you mean." He looked at the rest of the group, who were all getting ready.

"Yep, looks like we found a few darkspawn, but they don't seem to be in very large numbers!" The group Decided to split up. Sarah, Nolan, Leliana, and Morrigan went in one direction, while Alistair, Elizar, Sten, and Elissa and her dog went in another.

{Sarah's group}

The group had been wondering around for some time, until they finally found a pair of Genlocks skulking in the bushes. A quick ice spell from Morrigan and an arrow from Leliana brought them both down before they even knew they were under attack. Nolan looked at the corpses. "Why would two grunt soldiers be so far away from any support? Even darkspawn have the tendency to travel in numbers." Morrigan rolled her eyes at his question.

"You are questioning why mindless monsters act in a mindless way. Truly I'm starting to wonder as to why you ever gained a true military rank." Nolan simply ignored her, as he barely even registered that she had spoken, so deep in his thoughts was he. 'These darkspawn shouldn't be here at all. I have a bad feeling about this!' The group continued to look for any more suspicious groups of darkspawn.

{Elizar's group}

Elizar walked behind Alistair, who was led by Elissa and Hunter, with Sten bringing up the rear behind him. They found what looked to be a sort of natural trail that meandered about until it reached a cliff face that contained a cave. Alistair walked to the front of the group and frowned in the direction of the cave. "The taint is strongest in there!" Elizar decided to lighten the mood.

"Some random dark cave likely filled to the brim with raging monsters? And it's not even my birthday!" He looked around to see if it worked, and saw Elissa's dog looking at him wagging his stump of a tail excitedly. "Well at least you appreciate good humor." Elizar said, amused that the war dog had found his joke funny, and gave him an appreciative scratch behind the ears.

"Shall we find out what's causing this?" Elissa said as she took a step forward. Every one soon followed, with weapons at the ready.  
{Sarah's group}

The group found no more darkspawn, yet Sarah was sure she was sensing the taint somewhere nearby. She walked in the general direction of the taint, when she hit her head on a low hanging branch. She stifled a string of curses that she blamed Elizar for teaching her. "Are you alright?" Sarah looked down to see Leliana standing next to her with a concerned look on her face.

"It's fine," she said rubbing where the branch had hit, coursing a small healing spell through her fingers. "My horns took a lot of the force, and I don't feel pain in them." Leliana smiled at her tall friend and began to walk through the brush that she had failed to enter. What she found startled her.

"Everyone come quickly!" Nolan and Morrigan rushed over from where they had been searching some distance away, and Sarah ducked under the branch that had struck her previously. What they found was an unconscious elf, which possessed no visible sign of damage. Nolan looked at the tattoos on his face. "Looks like we found a Dalish elf, but what's he doing out here unconscious?" As the last word left his mouth the elf began to stir. His eyes were half focused and he seemed to be on the point of passing out again. Sarah took the opportunity to try and talk to the elf.

"Can you hear me? Can you tell us your name or where you live?" The elf looked at her, and then passed out again. Nolan looked at the crevice he had likely crawled out of.

"We might see what's in there." He bent down and picked up the elf. He placed over his shoulder like a great sack, and began to enter the cave, with his companions in tow.

A.N

Sorry for the long update. Busy schedule and computer problems combine to make problems for my work. Please review, I know some of you are following this story and feedback really inspires me to keep writing. Hope you enjoy.


	11. Chapter 11

Philosophy and Denerim

Theron walked with a dull pain pulsing throughout his entire body. He had returned to the cave with Fenarel and Merrell in tow after the keeper said to find out what may have happened to Tamlen. They met several small darkspawn, and later met the strange group that had brought him back to his camp. They destroyed the mirror, and then returned to the clan, where Theron learned that his only chance at survival was to become a grey warden.

So now he was traveling with the wardens group to Denerim, the Shem's capital in this area of the world. Alistair said that he had found the location of the components required to perform the joining ritual inside of a vault in Denerim after going through some of Duncan's personal effects. He showed the list Elizar and Sarah, and they all agreed they needed to make it to Denerim as quickly as they could.

One of the things that interested Theron the most was how the horned giant known as Sarah was constantly questioning him about the Dalish and what they like. She seemed especially interested in the story of Fen' Heral the dread wolf and his betrayal of the divines. Finally Theron decided to ask why she was so interested that she made him explain every detail he could. "Why are so determined to learn of this? Even I found the story old after the second telling." Sarah looked at him with a blank expression as though she couldn't believe that he wasn't realizing something.

"Don't tell you realize that it all makes sense?! The only missing is a time when this could have happened!" Theron, and the others that were nearby, looked on in curiosity, as she had unknowingly shouted. When she realized that the others were staring at her, she blushed in embarrassment, and then continued at a lower volume. "Well, as I was saying. The Dread wolf was careful to ensure that neither the good or evil creators were able to catch onto his trick, which left him with the only divine being that had any freedom. And so to bring destruction on the elves he created humans and took on the name the Maker, where he became a being that all people bowed to and worshipped! Think of what happened to the Old Gods! The exact same thing happened to them. They threatened his place as the only divine and so he imprisoned them. When the Magisters of the Imperium entered the golden city, he cast them back not as themselves, but as the first darkspawn for daring to invade his home. And when Andraste came along, maybe he did fall in love with her, or maybe he simply saw it as a chance to further hurt the Imperium for its disloyalty!" She took some breaths after her explanation, and both Theron and Alistair(Who had been the only other one in earshot) looked perplexed that she had sunk so much thought into stories of gods. Theron for his part looked thoughtful, as she did have some good points in his eyes. Alistair however began to smirk,

"Ha! Try explaining that to the revered mother back in Red cliff, I think her head would explode!" Elizar caught wind of what Alistair had said and fell back in line.

"Did I just hear something about revered mother's heads exploding? If so, how do I join in?" His ever present smirk growing larger.

While Alistair filled him in about what Sarah had theorized, Nolan and Elissa rode at the head of the group, their horses walking a slow steady walk. Nolan thought of what he would do in Denerim, then realized the only way he would get any troops from the city. His resultant groan caught Elissa's attention.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking curious.

"I'm going to have to pay a visit to one of my least favorite of the nobles, right next to Habren Bryland. Bann Vaughn." His voice was dripping with disgust as the name left his mouth. At the mention of the son of Arl Urian, Elissa's own face soured, as she remembered all the parties her mother had forced her to attend, and how even when he was only fourteen, Vaughn was a slovenly pig that was full of himself and spoiled rotten. He was abusive to the elven servants, and he never ceased trying to convince the girls to sleep with him. If they didn't, the he would simply rape the elves who were unfortunate enough to be in his proximity. That was one thing she had her parents guarantee, that she would never have to marry him. They both agreed quickly.

"I don't envy you that job. Can't you simply order him to supply you with troops, you do outrank him right?" Nolan laughed a bit at that.

"Not yet, unfortunately. Right now we are about equal in terms of noble ranking, I may as well be 'Bann of Gwaren' until my father hands the title of Teyrn down to me."

"But your sister is the queen, surly that counts for something!" Nolan looked at her and sighed.

"I don't know, we will just have to wait and see."

{The Next day, the gates of Denerim}

As the party entered the gates of the capital, there were mixed reactions. The guards who recognized Nolan and Elissa bow in respect. The ones who saw Sten and Sarah gaped open mouthed, causing Sarah to blush in embarrassment until Alistair and Elizar rode up beside her to help calm her. Elizar in particular seemed to love the staring he got, as an elf in fine clothes riding on a decent horse was something unexpected in the city, something he just loved. And when they passed the Chantry, he waved to the templars, trademark smirk on his face, knowing that they couldn't touch him. The group then split up, Elissa and Nolan heading toward the palace of the Arl, and the grey wardens heading to the vault, then to the royal palace to gain access to the grey warden quarters.

As Theron now walked beside Elizar, he noticed the gates to the Alienage, something he was curious about. He drew Elizar's attention to it, who decided to inform Alistair they would catch up soon. When they entered, they could see a difference quickly in the state of the buildings, bleak and in need of repair. As they walked in they saw two men pull a third man who was unconscious between them. One of them looked at the pair, and upon seeing they were both elves, pushed past them. Elizar was sure he heard one of them mutter "Bleeding knife ears, they'll pay for this!" Theron looked about to go after them, but Elizar held him back.

"They're not worth it my Dalish friend." As they turned around they were met by two elves. Both had red hair, though one of them, the woman, had it braided to one side, similar to Leliana. The male was slightly taller, and had short hair. The female of the two approached them, a slight smirk on her face.

"My cousin Shianni's work there, one bottle to the head, one unconscious shem. I'm Kallian Tabris, and this is my other cousin Soris. Your from outside Denerim aren't you?"

Theron nodded. "I'm Theron Mahariel, of the Dalish." That got a reaction from the two city elves. Soris began to stutter as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. "T-the Dalish? I-I-I thought they didn't exist!" Elizar couldn't resist.

"Then I guess we are all stark raving mad because we all seem to be having the same crazy hallucination." Kallian barked out a laugh and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Ha ha, oh I like this one. So where are you from, you don't look Dalish like your friend."

"I'm a grey warden, though I grew up in the circle of Magi." Upon hearing that he was a mage, Soris took a nervous step backwards, but Kallian stated close, not really worried thanks to her secret weapon. Theron spoke again.

"What is going on, everyone seems rather festive."

"Very observant good ser," Kallian said moving away from Elizar and gesturing all about with her arms. "This is a wedding day, for Soris and me. If you want to attend, your welcome to!" Elizar looked excited.

"I've never been to a wedding before, but I've heard there is lots of dancing and drinking. Count me in!" Theron shrugged, reminding himself to not forget about meeting with the other wardens later.

A.N.

My city elf has appeared. She will take a leading role next chapter. As for her reaction to the wardens, let's face it, they would likely not mind other elves joining in the fun. Next chapter will have blood, you have been warned. As for Sarah's view on the creation of the Maker, I got the idea from gamer072196's City elf Darrian and trying to imagine a conversation with him.


	12. Chapter 12

Bells toll for thee

Elizar seemed to be having too much fun for Theron's taste. He had quickly found some drinking buddies, and soon had consumed his third mug of ale. He had also found Kallian's cousin Shianni and had begun to dance with her surprisingly well for someone who seemed rather drunk and had lived in a tower most of his life. Theron himself noticed that several of the women were looking at him, and they quickly looked away once they saw he had noticed. He donned a confused look and decided to look at the stage, where a chantry sister began the ceremony. That's when the trouble started.

The men who had passed them when they entered the alienage now returned with roughly ten men in full suits of armor. The lead man looked about, selecting girls one by one. When the sister tried to stop him, he simply scoffed, and continued. "You, you, and…where's the bitch that bottled me?" Theron noticed Shianni shy away from sight, but the man spotted her. He then turned to Kallian, and if looks could kill, Vaughn would be dead a hundred times over.

"Let them go, now!" Vaughn laughed at that.

"Oh, that is rich, you think your little threats intimidate me. I will really enjoy breaking you!" One of guards slammed his gauntlet into Kallian's face, knocking her unconscious. Theron was ready to reach for an arrow when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned and saw the elven Haren, Valendrian.

"I know how you feel, but you can't beat them all. It will hurt us more than them!" Theron was forced to see the reason behind the elder's words, even though he didn't like them. He watched as the soldiers carried the women away. Theron quickly found Elizar, who was somewhat drunk, and began to consider what to do.

Kallian woke up amongst her fellow kidnaped women. She was still in her wedding dress, so she hadn't been raped yet it would seem. After, more shems entered the chamber, they carried Shianni away, and killed another of the women. Kallian finally lost it, and she charged at the guard, who looked surprised, but this was quickly replaced with a smug grin. This was met with Kallian's rage filled eyes, she dodged to the side of his clumsy sword swing and threw what looked to be a normal punch, until she flicked her wrist.

A blade extended out and went straight into the shems neck, his expression changing from a smug grin to a look of horror as he realized what happened. His friend looked at the sight of his fellow guard, with blood streaming from his neck, in pure terror. He did not have time for anything else however as an arrow struck him through his armor, and pierced his heart. As the two shems fell to the ground, the captured women looked to where the arrow came from. They saw the Dalish elf Theron standing with his bow drawn, but at his waist. Next to him was his friend Elizar, who still seemed to be hiccupping, despite Theron's best tries at making him sober again.

Then they all turned to Kallian, her white dress stained crimson, her hidden blade returning to its place, ready to be called on again. She stood up straight, brushed her hair out of her face, further spreading blood across her features. She turned to the two wardens, surprised to see them here, when she saw that Soris was there as well.

"I didn't expect grey wardens to come to our rescue!" Theron smiled slightly.

"I'm not one yet, so all that's happening is Elizar is failing to properly control his recruit, Isn't that right Elizar?" Elizar turned to face him, his cheeks red and his smile was obvious in origin.

"Sure, whatever you say. Don't forget, we're supposed to stay out of trouble!" Theron patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we are souls of caution." He turned to Kallian and Soris. "Are all the women here?"

"No." Kallian replied quickly. "They took Shianni to the main chamber, where Vaughn is most likely."

She began to quickly move to the next room, with Soris and Theron moving behind her, while Elizar had (After a few smacks from Theron, regained a semblance of sobriety) was left to escort the other girls to safety.

While they fought their way through the Arl's estate, Theron carefully observed Kallian's fighting style. She had been given a dagger and a long sword, wielding them both in tandem. She seemed to almost be dancing the way she moved gracefully between foes. She would find ways of moving to a silent rhythm in her head, leaving her foes guessing as too whether she would strike low, high, or from behind. When they saw her fiancé get cut down by the guards, her pattern of attack became far more aggressive. When she was less aggressive, she seemed to grow a dark smile as she played with her enemy, like a cat with a mouse.

When they finally reached Vaughn's chamber, they found Shianni on the floor, weeping, while Vaughn and his men stood over her. Vaughn turned to the sound of the door opening, and his mouth dropped at what he saw. He saw three elves, all covered in blood, but the women was the worst. She was covered in the blood of whom he could only assume once belonged to his men, and her venom green eyes sent a jolt of terror down his spine, something he never dreamed could come from an elf. He quickly stopped his hasty friend from attacking. If they were to survive this, they would have to bargain. "Surely we can avoid further needless bloodshed. If you kill me, my father will ensure the alienage runs red with elven blood." He tried to keep his face straight, but it wasn't easy. "We can fight, or you can leave, with forty Sovereigns added to your purse! We return the girls a little worse for the wear, and go on about our lives."

Kallian made her refusal of his offer with a gesture. She swung her dagger across his face, removing one eye, and sending to the floor in pain. Theron killed one of his cronies with an arrow to the heart, (Enough for him to bleed out, and feel his death without dying too quickly). And Soris managed to kill the third after a quick exchange of blows. Kallian bent down, and stabbed her blades through Vaughn's hands, pinning him to the floor in a sitting position. She leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"You have my answer! And now since I have nothing to lose, let's have a little fun shall we?" What happened next, Theron felt that not even the darkspawn could have created a more fitting punishment. After that was done, they returned to the alienage, Theron supporting Shianni. But as they entered the gates, the city guard came about, not pleased about the massacre of the Arl's son and his men. Theron felt his day was not over just yet.


	13. Chapter 13

Join us brothers and sisters

This was a day full of surprises for Nolan. He and Elissa had left Alistair and his group to pay a visit to Vaughn, only to discover that he and most of men had been slaughtered. The survivors said that they saw three elves carving their way through the palace. Elissa had to use all of her self-control to not smile at the irony. Nolan found it interesting himself, but then realized he was one of the highest ranking nobles in Denerim, meaning he could begin calling for troops without having to go through Vaughn.

Once they were out of sight of the Arl's palace, he had to stop himself from outright laughing at how his greatest obstacle had seen fit to remove itself before meeting him. He of course felt no end of pity toward Arl Urian who would now have to mourn his only son, but he felt very little grief over the fate of Vaughn himself. Elissa noticed his smirks struggle, and produced a fake frown. "Look at you! For Shame, laughing at the fate of someone, even if they were pompous, self-loving, spoiled monsters!" He looked at her, face full of false repentance.

"Oh your right Elissa, I should organize the man's funeral, and write a loving eulogy detailing all of his good traits! Now what were those again?" At that, both of them broke out into laughter.

"We are terrible people, you know that?" Elissa said, her face still showing her smile.

"Yes, yes we are. Let's go meet up with wardens. I can't help but feel we will be seeing some elven recruits besides our Dalish friend.

{With Alistair}

Alistair left the gray warden's vault with the supply of Archdemon blood, and thought back to what had occurred within.

{A few minutes ago}

Alistair and Sarah had left Morrigan, Leliana, and Sten outside, since the vault was for grey wardens only. Sten had nodded, and Leliana accepted it. Morrigan simply rolled her eyes and walked off somewhere.

Sarah and Alistair looked through the chests and cabinets in search of the Archdemon blood needed for the joining. As they went about their search, Sarah found a shield, with the warden griffon embossed upon the front. She picked it up and showed it to Alistair, who immediately dropped what he was holding,(From the sound it was something metal) and rushed over to inspect it. "It can't be! This shield was Duncan's. I never knew that he never had it with him. I thought that it had been lost somewhere!" Sarah smiled at his excitement, he noticed, and smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much for finding this, it means a lot to me." Sarah was surprised by his gratitude, and blushed slightly.

"You don't need to thank me. All I did was find something and show it to you! I didn't really do much." Alistair shook his head, the smile still on his face.

"Still, thank you, I really appreciate this!" Sarah blushed a bit more at the words he said, but continued smiling. After that, they soon found not only the blood, but also some extra suits of grey warden armor, for both mages and non-mages. Alistair looked at the mage armor, then grinned slightly. "We should take this an armorer, I don't think Duncan anticipated such tall recruits." Sarah found herself smiling again.

{The present}

Alistair smiled at the recollection of what transpired within the vault. As the group reformed and set off, they saw something happening. They saw a group of Templars grabbing a young man by the arms and trying to restrain him. Sarah blinked as she saw who the man was.

"Anders?" She said. Attention was drawn to her as she made her way through the crowd of people to where the Templars had halted, not quite knowing why a pair of Qunari were approaching them. As they got closer, the man called Anders looked up, and recognized the horned giant before him.

"Ah, so Elizar's really tall friend gets to witness my seventh capture by the Templars, I can already hear the jokes he'll be … hang on, why are you out here and not in the tower?"

Sarah looked to the Templars, unable to see their faces under their helmets. "Why are you being so brutal with him? He has only escaped the tower, he doesn't deserve this treatment!"

One of templars decided to speak, contempt dripping from every word. "What do you care horn head? What we do with our mages is our business, especially malificarum!" Anders turned his head at that, confusion on his face.

"Malificarum? Since when have I… oh never mind. You won't listen anyway!" The templars began to carry him away.

"Wait!" Everyone looked at Sarah, who had just spoken with a tone of authority that no one could remember hearing. The templar looked at her again, this time speaking with agitation. "Look lady let us…"

"I hereby invoke the grey warden's rite of conscription!" Everyone looked surprised at this declaration. Alistair had misgivings about upsetting the templars, but was really more interested in supporting her then voicing his concerns, especially with her strange new commanding presence. The templar spoke again, this time in disbelief.

"We are supposed to believe you are a grey warden?!" Alistair stepped forward.

"Yes you are, I'm one too. And the rite of conscription stands above your duties as templars! Now release him to our custody." Alistair wasn't sure if the templars would back down or attack, so his hand found his sword handle, adding to his statement a promise to see it through. The templars looked at one another, than released their grip on Anders, who wasted no time standing up next to Sarah. The templar spoke once again, this time with only a warning at his lips. "Mark my words wardens, you are making a mistake!" with that, the two then left, returning to the chantry. The crowd began to disperse as the warden party walked toward the royal palace, with Anders wondering just what he had got himself into this time.

{Later that day: the royal palace.}

Kallian, Theron, and Anders stood in one of the palaces guestrooms that contained multiple beds. Kallian had changed out of her blood soaked wedding dress, and had been given some leather armor, which she wore without the helmet. Theron looked seriously pale, which worried Kallian, and to an extent, Anders. He offered a healing spell if Theron thought it would help, but the Dalish politely refused.

Theron interested Kallian to no limit. He was a Dalish elf, someone with plenty of reasons to hate humans, yet he was always rather polite to most of them. And the mage, he was something else entirely. He seemed to be able to turn an insult sent at him, into a joke about the speaker. She didn't know what to think of him, but she felt that they might get along if he turned out not to be too terrible.

They all turned toward the door as it opened. Alistair led the way, holding a silver chalice in his hands. Elizar was next, he grinned as he saw Anders, someone who he got along with at least back at the tower. And Sarah brought up the rear, watching all three of the new recruits with a look of anxiety that none of the recruits liked. Alistair looked at the recruits. "We speak only a few words prior to the joining, but they have been said since the first." He turned to Elizar and Sarah. "Would either care to speak them?" Sarah nodded, and began to speak the words she remembered Alistair saying at her own joining.

"Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us in carrying the duty that cannot be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be in vain. And that one day, we shall join you." Alistair then brought the chalice and presented it Theron. "From this moment forward Theron, you are a grey warden." Theron nodded. He took the chalice to his lips. His eyes rolled back, and he fell backward, into Elizar's arms. Elizar smiled. "He'll live." Next was Kallian. She hesitated before accepting the chalice, but drank just the same. She survived as well. Anders was last. He seemed to be handling his nerves well, but inside he was insanely nervous.

"This is it!" He said, partially to himself as he drank the joining potion. Sarah caught him as he fell to the floor, relief plain on her face. The three wardens looked upon the new brothers and sister, glad that now, there were six wardens to defend Ferelden, instead of only three. The odds of beating the blight were still long. But this was a good win for moral.

A.N.

And so new wardens are brought into the order. Also a moment for Sarah and Alistair. Next chapter will have some time with queen Anora and her brother. My next few chapters involve a scheme that might take time to unfold, but will serve the plot as it should. And as for the opening paragraphs, can anyone really say they aren't happy that Vaughn is dead?


	14. Chapter 14

A few moments of peace.

Nolan waited in one of the sitting rooms, a letter from his father in hand. Things were going well in the south. Redcliff's forces had arrived to fill the holes made by the darkspawn after the last serious engagement. This was added to the fact that the darkspawn had yet to make another serious attack. They sent scouts, and skirmishing parties, but these were all repelled with little effort.

Nolan knew that this would change unless he and the wardens sent more troops to the south, and their closest resources were the people of Denerim and Amaranthine, and the mages at Kinloch hold. He would have to bring as many as he could, but the chantry would become an obstacle. If he wanted mages, he would need the grey wardens and their treatise.

He was removed from his thoughts as the door opened, and within the door way stood his older sister Anora, queen of Ferelden. "It's good to see you again brother." Nolan stood up and embraced her for what was quite likely the first time in months. She looked well, her hair was still its golden color, and her complexion was healthy.

"It would seem you are handling the pressure of being queen quite well." Nolan smiled.

"Looks can be deceiving, but in this case you are right. " She returned the smile. They both sat down and began to catch up. The conversation ranged from what was happening in Denerim to Nolan recounting the tale of his travels from Ostagar to the present time. Anora then started smiling, something that reminded Nolan of a certain red headed mage.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Nolan asked, his eyebrow raised.

"You seem to be growing ever closer to the youngest Cousland, I wonder how long it will take to convince father to let you marry her." Anora flashed her grin, showing her polished teeth, something hard to come by in Ferelden. Nolan felt the temperature in the room go up a few degrees. Anora watched as her brother carefully assembled his response, never letting her smile disappear. Because she knew that she had won, and her brother was scrambling a response. All those years of Political practice were paying off quite handsomely.

{The Alienage}

Elissa was talking to Valendrian about gathering elves for the army, when she sneezed. She wondered briefly where it came from, but soon disregarded it. She continued speaking to the elder, who seemed to be on board with her plan.

{Warden Quarter, royal palace}

Kallian could not remember the last time she had eaten so much good food. She had awoken the previous night, along with Theron, and were both given a massive dinner. Anders seemed to also be enjoying himself as he talked to Elizar, the two exchanging jokes. She was able to hear one:

"Alright Anders, what do you call someone who is out of earshot?"

"I give up, what?"

"Anything you want, he can't hear you!" They both started laughing than Kallian saw Sarah walk into their conversation.

"I have one; I heard it when I was lost in Lothering." The two men looked to the tall woman, not sure what to expect from the rather naïve Warden. "Alright, how did it start…? Oh I remember. Okay, so a human, an elf and a dwarf are all walking together, when they discover a strange relic. Upon touching it, a spirit emerges, and in thanks for freeing them, offers them each one wish. The elf says,

"I want my people to be happy and free, somewhere away from people who would oppress us!" The spirit nods, and zaps all the elves to a peaceful place where they can live happily. The dwarf says

"Get rid of the darkspawn, and take all of my people to the place our ancestors wanted us, underground!" The spirit nods again, and sends all of the dwarfs back underground, and the darkspawn are all gone. The spirit turns to the human and says,

"What is your wish?" The human looks about.

"All of the elves and dwarves are gone?" The spirit nods. "How about a pint?""

Anders and Elizar both looked open mouthed at Sarah, causing her to blush in embarrassment. "I'm not that good at telling jokes I guess." Right after saying this both men burst out in fits of hysterics, Elizar even falling to the floor laughing.

"How about a Pint! That's great!" Elizar said between breaths. The other wardens were staring, somewhat in concern for the two gasping mages. Sarah smiled, glad that she hadn't told the joke wrong.

{Unknown area. (1st POV person from here on)}

My eyes began to open, the world seemed blurred. One thing I noticed was a pain inside my head, but it seemed to be fading, and then I noticed that the room was silent. No trace of the song I remembered hearing before I lost consciousness. I wondered where I was, than I began to test my limbs. My arms still worked, and so did my legs.

I swung my legs over the side of what I was laying upon, which seemed to be a stone table. The movement caused my vision to swirl, losing focus for a time. After my vision cleared, I began to stand up. I took my first step, then the second, quickly remembering how to walk.

As I finally mastered my ability to move, someone I didn't recognize walked in through a door I hadn't noticed before. He turned to look at me, his face unreadable. He then spoke, his voice deep, and somewhat menacing.

"You are awake at last! Follow me; he will want to speak to you!" He then turned and left before I could respond. I quickly rushed to catch up, following him through winding hallways, with others watching us.

"Where are we going?" I asked, surprised at the sound of my own voice. It was similar to the other man's, if a bit less fear inducing. He walked on, as if I hadn't said anything. I was about to ask again and demand an answer when he stopped suddenly.

"We're here!" he said. I looked about. We appeared to be inside of an old, underground ruin.

"So you are Awake, I am pleased to see that you are well." Another voice spoke. I turned to find the speaker. He was a tall man, wearing robes, and a gold colored mask.

"Who are you?" I asked, feeling strangely awed in his presence.

"I am the Architect."

A.N.

The Architect has arrived, could you guess what was going on beforehand? Because I tried to make it hard. The first person POV was from a character I have wanted to make for a long time and one I have plans for. The joke scene was something I didn't think of until I was writing. Points to whoever can guess where the frame work of Sarah's joke came from. Hint: It's from a movie with a pair of brothers as the protagonists. Some more action in the next chapter. And most importantly, thank you to the people who are following this story. I feel very thankful that you are overlooking the terrible mistakes I made in chapters four through six I believe. I will go back and fix those, I lose more readers there than anywhere else.


	15. Chapter 15

**Important notice**

I am wracked with indecision. I am considering starting this story over from scratch. This is going specifically to the people who are following this story all the way so far; I want to hear from you. If you think the story should go on as is, or if I should try again, tell me. If I am met with silence, I will try to decide on my own, but I want to know what you think. Anyone is free to leave a review, or send me a PM, telling me what to do. If you like how things are, please let me know, if you don't, but want the story to stay on course, please let me know. I may write a chapter of what the new version to show what it might look like. Please let me know, your opinions will help decide what I do with this story.

The 25th Doctor


	16. Chapter 16

**North then West, than Down.**

A week after their arrival, Nolan and his group left Denerim through its northern gates, and moved along the pilgrim's path to Amaranthine. Nolan rode with Elissa at the head of the group, with wardens in a mixed order behind them. With a shortage of sizable horses, Sten had volunteered to walk, and so took rear guard.

Sarah did the same, though Alistair and Elizar had both said that it was not necessary, but she was insistent. She was now of the first members of the group to fall asleep when they set up camp and the last to wake up when they moved out again. When Elizar expressed his concern about this, she said that she wanted to build her physical strength.

Nolan was the first to discover vigil's keep in the distance, already sensing the presence of Arl Howe. Nolan turned to Elissa who looked at him with a smirk on her face.

"Are you going to tell me how much you dislike Arl Howe now Nolan?" Nolan smiled slightly as he turned ahead again.

"I don't like him all that much. He's a far better politician than Vaughn! Where with Vaughn you had what you saw, with Howe, you have a man who knows how hide his true intentions through vague words and simple actions." Elissa looked surprised at Nolan's true thoughts on the Arl.

"I know a few of the other nobles share in your opinion. My biggest problem with him is the fact that he keeps trying to get me to marry his son Thomas!"

Conversation steadily died out as they approached the decaying walls of Vigil's Keep. The group entered the inner courtyard of the keep, they saw the true conditions of the keep.

The soldiers had poor armor and weapons, much of the stone from the walls was missing and replaced by hastily thrown together palisades. And as Nolan looked about, he could see that the keep was undermanned. But he could excuse that due to most of the regulars from Amaranthine heading south to Ostagar.

The group attracted much attention, as they seemed to be the first thing of interest for some time. The keep's Seneschal approached them from the keep's main hall. Nolan saw that he was a scrawny looking man, with some stubble along his chin, and an unsettling twitch to his eyes that gave him a squirrely look.

"My lord!" His words dripping with what Nolan felt to be a mix of sarcasm and something else that he couldn't put his finger on. "It's my duty to inform you that Arl Howe is away, as he recently overcame the illness that prevented his departure some time ago!"

Nolan looked at the man with a slight stare, which he withstood without flinching. "Did Arl Howe take more soldiers with him?"

"I believe so my lord." The Seneschal said with slight shrug to show that he either didn't know for sure, or didn't care all that much, or perhaps both.

Nolan finished his talk with the man, and brought the group out of the keep. Elissa wasn't sure who looked more interesting; Sten's disapproving gaze as he looked over the keeps defenses, or Nolan as he seemed to have trouble deciding whether to smile or frown at the recent turn of events.

They began to ride east toward Highever, when the wardens all stopped. Alistair dismounted, and soon the other wardens on horseback did the same. The group approached a massive chasm, someway of the beaten track.

Alistair looked down the path that would take them inside. "There are darkspawn down there!"

Elizar steeped up, "And if I'm right, quite a few of them too!"

Nolan began to consider the idea that the darkspawn could be tunneling north to completely avoid the forces at Ostagar. "We should at least investigate what they may be up to. If they are planning to attack from here, than Vigil's keep is all that stands between them and Amaranthine!"

The members of the group began to look at each other, knowing that the young Captain was speaking the truth. They all began to approach the chasm slowly, ready for the darkspawn to attack at any moment.

{}

The Vanguard walked with his soldiers, having quickly regained his ability to lead darkspawn after his awakening. In fact his abilities seemed stronger now that they were no longer limited by the Archdemon. The Architect had told him that not all of his brothers reacted well to being freed of the song, and that was his mission now.

He had a force of nearly eighty-seven darkspawn, and was ready to use them to defeat The Lost. The Lost was a powerful emissary, and also had a small army of his own. But the Vanguard would not lose to one who would joyfully enslave himself.

His men had found an entrance to the dwarven thaig of Kal'Hirol, and he prepared to launch his attack, when he sensed a strange presence. The taint was similar, but whoever it was not a darkspawn.

He shook his head and tried to focus on the task at hand. 'We shall defeat The Lost, than we move to defeat the others who will try to stop my brothers from being freed!' He thought, clenching his fist.

"Break through the rubble and prepare to attack!" He ordered his men punching his fist forward. The group of darkspawn around him let out their equivalent of a cheer, and set to work.

{}

Sarah sent an ice spell to join the one sent by Morrigan, and they both struck a Hurlock in the chest, sending it to the ground. Kallian danced around the second, deftly dodging each attack. She dodged a final downward swing before thrusting her sword through its chest, then moving behind it and slitting its throat. Elizar looked at the Hurlock bleeding out on the ground, and the elf standing over it with something of a cruel smile on her face. He turned to Sarah a serious look on his face.

"Remind to not get on her bad side, alright?" Sarah nodded, somewhat disturbed by the elves attitude towards blood herself.

Nolan turned to the dwarf that they had helped.

"I'm captain Nolan Mac Tir of Ferelden. Are you alright?" The dwarf took off her helmet, and addressed the captain.

"I'm alright! I may have a broken rib or two, but nothing I can't handle. My name is Sigrun; I'm a scout for the Legion of the dead."

Anders stepped forward. "If you'd like, I can take a look at that rib?" Sigrun looked at the mage, and nodded. While Anders healed her, she began to explain what she was doing in this area.

"I was investigating a rumor of increased darkspawn activity near Kal'Hirol, and so here I am. I didn't plan on almost getting captured by darkspawn."

Nolan looked interested. "What did you find?"

"A den of darkspawn that seemed to almost be fortifying the old thaig."

"Elizar, we should probably deal with these darkspawn before they're able to launch any attacks against the people up above." The wardens began to nod. So they all began to follow Sigrun into the tunnels that would lead to Kal'Hirol.

A.N.

I am back! I apologize for the long update, fate was not my friend for a while. We shall continue in Kal'Hirol through the next chapter. This story will go as is for the time being. I hope you like the new chapter.


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